Toyota Introduces New Engine in U.S.
That Is Much Lighter, Cheaper to Make

Toyota Introduces New Engine in U.S.
That Is Much Lighter, Cheaper to Make

Wall Street Journal
10/30/97 Page A10
By Valerie Reitman

TOKYO -- Toyota Motor Corp. has quietly introduced a new engine in the
U.S. that requires nearly 25% fewer parts to build than its predecessor,
substantially cutting both weight and cost.

The No. 1 Japanese auto maker made the new engine standard equipment
on the 1998 U.S. version of its compact Corolla introduced this fall.
While Toyota's work on a lighter and cheaper engine was known
previously, the engine 's first use in the new Corolla went little
noticed.

The development helps to explain how Toyota was able to cut the price
of the new Corolla in the U.S. by 10%, or more than $1,000, from that of
the model it replaced. Toyota already ranks as the world's most
efficient auto maker, making its further cost-cutting moves closely
watched by rivals from Detroit to Stuttgart, Germany.

A year ago, Toyota finance executive Ryuji Araki disclosed that
Toyota was developing a "simple and powerful" engine that would use a
third fewer parts. As rivals began speculating about how the company
could produce such an engine , the normally tight-lipped Toyota resumed
that stance, with some Toyota officials even dismissing Mr. Araki's
comments as uninformed. In addition, the engine wasn't introduced in
Japan, as had once been expected.

Now Toyota acknowledges that the redesigned, 1.8-liter, dual overhead
cam, all-aluminum, four-cylinder engine in the new Corolla contains just
560 parts, nearly 25% fewer than the previous engine's 741. The engine
weighs 64 pounds, or about 10%, less than its predecessor and generates
120 horsepower, a 15% increase, making the new Corolla much peppier.

The new engine also offers a 10% gain in fuel economy and a
substantial reduction in emissions. And the compact configuration of the
new engine allowed designers to give the new Corolla a shape that has
about the same low wind resistance as a Toyota Supra sports car.

"We do believe that the Corolla engine deserves special attention," a
Toyota spokesman in the U.S. said yesterday. He said that in press
previews last summer the company described the advances represented by
the engine , but "we didn't focus attention on it" because marketers also
wanted to promote the redesigned car's advances in crash-worthiness and
other safety elements.

Still, top officials at Toyota's headquarters remain low key about
the new engine. Akihiro Wada, Toyota's executive vice president in
charge of research and development, described the engine as
evolutionary, not revolutionary. He pointed out that some material costs
increased on the engine, since more aluminum was used to cut weight.

Still, independent industry experts are impressed. "It's a monument
to value-engineering capability," said James Womack, president of the
Lean Enterprise Institute, a nonprofit educational organization. David
Cole, director of the University of Michigan's Center for the Study of
Automotive Transportation, said: "It's a pretty substantial reduction in
costs."

Industry experts estimate that a conventional four-cylinder engine
costs an auto maker $600 to $700, so a 25% cost reduction might amount
to more than $150 a car -- a huge amount in an industry that shaves
costs by nickels and dimes.

Toyota engineers flipped the intake runners to the front of the
engine, eliminating several secondary brackets, says Suguya Fukusato,
the chief engineer on the Corolla. Positioning the exhaust manifold at
the rear of the engine, instead of in front, shortened the exhaust train
and helped cut emissions, a spokesman says. Engineers made the water
pump part of the engine block.

Increased combustion efficiency lowered water temperatures, allowing
for a radiator core that is 41% narrower than before. The engine
requires just one catalytic converter, unlike many competing engines
that require two.

Toyota developed three distinct Corolla models to cater to North
American, Japanese and European tastes. Mr. Fukusato said the new engine
being installed in North America differs from those being sold elsewhere
partly because, in Europe at least, the market demands an even smaller
engine. In addition, he said, the special additional pollution-control
equipment necessary to meet low U.S. emissions standards make the engine
too expensive to offer in Japan or Europe, where emissions regulations
are less stringent.